CARDS OVERCOME 8-RUN DEFICIT, DEFEAT METS
Flood Reaches Base 5 Times, Drives Home 3
ST. LOUIS, Apr. 28 (AP) - Trailing the Mets 8-0 after 3 1/2 innings, the St.
Louis Cardinals roared back to defeat New York, 10-9, at Sportsman's Park.
The contest--probably the wildest of the young major league season to
date--featured 19 runs, 27 hits--11 of them for extra bases, but no home
runs--10 walks and five passed balls--four of them by starting New York backstop
Jesse Gonder. Curt Flood was the biggest offensive star for the Cardinals,
going 4-for-4, including a bases clearing double, plus a walk, two runs scored
and three runs driven in. Ken Boyer added three hits for St. Louis,
including a pair of doubles.
The Mets erupted for six runs in the first two innings, making it a short day
for struggling Cardinals starter Ernie Broglio. The first inning featured
run scoring singles off the bats of Gonder and George Altman and Amado Samuel
added a two-run double to give New York a 4-0 lead. The second inning saw
a run-scoring triple from Tim Harkness followed by a base hit off the bat of
Frank Thomas, which put the Mets ahead 6-0 and brought an end to Broglio's day.
The Mets seemed to all but put the game away in the fourth when they scored
twice more. Ron Hunt led off with a single and Harkness roped his second
consecutive triple to increase the lead to 7-0. One out later, Altman
lifted a sacrifice fly to left to up the advantage to eight runs.
And then came the bottom of the fourth.
New York starter Al Jackson had cruised through the first three innings, but
allowed a one-out double to Boyer. Gonder's first passed ball of the game
allowed the runner to advance to third and Charlie James singled Boyer home to
reduce the St. Louis deficit to 8-1. Bill White fanned, but then came what
would be the seminal moment in the game. Phil Gagliano rolled a grounder
to Smith at third who kicked the ball for an error, placing runners at first and
second with two outs instead of ending the inning. The Cardinals took full
advantage. Bob Uecker walked to fill the bases and pinch hitter Mike
Shannon drew another free pass, forcing home the second run of the frame.
Flood then lined a ball off of Jackson for an infield hit, scoring Gagliano to
make it 8-3. Dick Groat then fully brought St. Louis back in the game,
lining a ball just fair down the right field line for a bases clearing
double. Jackson was replaced by Jay Hinsley who retired Carl Warwick on a
comebacker to finally end the inning but not before the Cardinals had cut the
New York lead to 8-6. All six of the runs were charged to Jackson and were
unearned.
The Cardinals knotted the score in the sixth. With one out, Flood singled
and advanced to second on a ground out. Pinch hitter Doug Clemens doubled
to center, scoring Flood to cut the deficit to one run and Boyer followed with a
single to right field, plating Clemens with the tying run.
St. Louis took the lead for good in the seventh. New pitcher Ron Locke
retired the first two batters of the inning but then walked Uecker and
Shannon. Flood then came through again, doubling into the left field
corner to score both runners and put the Cardinals ahead 10-8.
Despite having surrendered a huge lead, the Mets wouldn't go quietly. Rod
Kanehl singled to right off Ron Taylor to start the eighth and took second base
on a passed ball charged to Uecker. Larry Elliot grounded to second,
moving Kanehl to third and Hunt singled to right to make it 10-9. Harkness
reached on an infield single, putting the tying and go-ahead runs on base, but
Taylor stiffened and set down Thomas and Altman to end the rally.
The Cardinals threatened to add to the lead in the bottom of the eighth.
Boyer slashed a one-out double and Bill Wakefield replaced Locke on the hill for
the Mets. Gonder's fourth passed ball of the game allowed Boyer to move to
third, but Johnny Lewis tapped to second with the infield drawn in for the
second out. White was walked intentionally, but Tim McCarver pinch hit for
Gagliano and grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Mets were unable to score off Ray Sadecki in the ninth and the Cardinals
held on for the win.
4/28/1964, NYN64-StL64, Busch Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1964 Mets 4 2 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 9 15 1 8 1 1964 Cardinals 0 0 0 6 0 2 2 0 x 10 12 0 9 0 Mets AB R H BI AVG Cardinals AB R H BI AVG Elliot cf 4 2 1 0 .150 Flood cf 4 2 4 3 .360 Hunt,R 2b 5 1 2 1 .391 Groat ss 5 0 1 3 .370 Harkness 1b 5 2 3 2 .258 Warwick rf 3 0 1 0 .150 Thomas,F lf 5 1 3 1 .349 Burdette,L p 0 0 0 0 .000 Altman rf 4 1 1 2 .364 Clemens ph 1 1 1 1 .222 Wakefield p 0 0 0 0 .000 Taylor,R p 0 0 0 0 .000 Gonder c 4 1 1 1 .231 Long ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Hickman ph 1 0 0 0 .273 Sadecki p 0 0 0 0 .000 Smith,C 3b 4 0 1 0 .217 Boyer,K 3b 5 1 3 1 .222 Smith,D pr 0 0 0 0 .071 James lf 4 1 1 1 .143 Samuel ss 4 0 2 2 .258 Lewis ph 1 0 0 0 .357 Locke,R p 0 0 0 0 .000 White,B 1b 3 0 0 0 .245 Christopher rf 1 0 0 0 .167 Gagliano 2b 4 1 1 0 .286 Jackson,A p 1 0 0 0 .100 McCarver ph 1 0 0 0 .237 Hinsley p 0 0 0 0 .000 Uecker c 2 2 0 0 .000 Stephenson ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Javier 2b 0 0 0 0 .114 Bauta p 0 0 0 0 .000 Broglio p 0 0 0 0 .333 Kanehl 3b 1 1 1 0 .333 Fanok p 1 0 0 0 .000 40 9 15 9 Shannon ph 1 2 0 1 .167 36 10 12 10 Mets INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Jackson,A 3.2 6 6 0 3 5 78 48 1.59 Hinsley 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 6.75 Bauta BS 1 2.0 4 2 2 1 2 37 22 6.23 Locke,R L 1-1 1.1 2 2 2 2 0 30 12 9.00 Wakefield 0.2 0 0 0 1 0 8 2 4.15 8.0 12 10 4 7 7 155 86 Cardinals INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Broglio 1.1 7 6 6 2 2 65 40 9.37 Fanok 2.2 2 2 2 1 2 42 28 5.40 Burdette,L 2.0 2 0 0 0 0 26 17 0.00 Taylor,R W 2-1 2.0 3 1 1 0 0 28 18 3.00 Sadecki S 1 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 12 8 5.23 9.0 15 9 9 3 5 173 111 NYN: Stephenson batted for Hinsley in the 5th Smith,C moved to ss in the 7th Kanehl inserted at 3b in the 7th Christopher inserted at rf in the 8th Hickman batted for Gonder in the 9th Smith,D ran for Smith,C in the 9th StL: Shannon batted for Fanok in the 4th Shannon moved to rf in the 5th Clemens batted for Burdette,L in the 6th Long batted for Taylor,R in the 8th Lewis batted for James in the 8th McCarver batted for Gagliano in the 8th Lewis moved to rf in the 9th McCarver moved to c in the 9th Javier inserted at 2b in the 9th Shannon moved to lf in the 9th E-Smith,C. 2B-Elliot(1), Thomas,F(3), Samuel(1), Flood(2), Groat(4), Warwick(2), Boyer,K 2(2), Clemens(2). 3B-Harkness 2(2). RBI-Hunt,R(2), Harkness 2(3), Thomas,F(6), Altman 2(2), Gonder(6), Samuel 2(4), Flood 3(5), Groat 3(7), Boyer,K(10), James(2), Shannon(3), Clemens(2). CS-Smith,D. K-Hunt,R, Altman, Gonder, Jackson,A, Christopher, Boyer,K, James 2, White,B 2, Fanok, Shannon. BB-Elliot, Smith,C, Jackson,A, Flood, White,B 2, Uecker 2, Shannon 2. SF-Altman. PB-Gonder 4, Uecker. GWRBI: Flood Temperature: 84, Sky: clear, Wind: left to right at 12 MPH. Attendance: 9,448 Game Time: 2:57